The costume fell into the hands of a “Wizard of Oz” crew member. He thought it would make a great Halloween costume. It was thrown into a bag and sat decaying in an attic. Years later, it deteriorated so much that it took 21 experts two years to restore it.
Cara Varnell, textile conservation at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, led the project. The lion costume auctioned at Bonhams for $3,077,000 in 2014; it went for a million dollars more than the ruby slippers. The Cowardly Lion costume was one of two used in the MGM movie.
The Blaster
The Blaster is also known as the LAPD 2019 Blaster or the PKD. It was created by prop manager Terry Lewis with specifications by Ridley Scott. Lewis had it built by a gunsmith who assembled a hybrid gun from the Steyr Mannlicher Model rifle and the Carter Arms Bulldog revolver.
Renowned Hollywood gunsmith Branko Wolfheart is credited for engineering the realistic-looking prop that we know as Blade Runner Decker’s trusty Blaster.
The Wizard of Oz (1939) - Cowardly Lion Costume: $3.1M
Dorothy's pal, the Cowardly Lion, has a special place in many hearts. But what most fans do not know is that the costumed actor Bert Lahr wore a lion costume. It weighed 60 pounds and was made from a lion’s pelt, real lion hair, and skin! A PETA atrocity, we hear the collective roar. Even the tail was real.
Needless to say, it was miserably uncomfortable. It was also unbearably hot. The mask precluded any eating. This actor could have used some workplace protections. It was a different time.
The Wizard of Oz (1939) - Ruby Slippers: $2M
In Baum’s depiction of Oz Dorothy’s slippers, the pair she recovered from the wicked witch killed by her house was silver. It seems almost heretical that they should be silver, but we must agree that in the colorful land of Oz, no color except red would do.
Today, the ruby slippers are the cream of the crop of movie memorabilia, one of the most valued in cinema history.
The Ruby Slippers
The red ruby slippers are pure magic. When making the iconic movie, more than one pair was used, and it is unknown exactly how many were needed. By clicking the two slippers together, Dorothy could go back to Kansas and back to her home.
This ravishing footwear is so valuable that there were stolen from the museum where they are homed. In 2005, the museum was broken into, and the pair of red slippers was stolen. Thirteen years later, in 2018, the slippers were recovered.